Homecoming

Welcome to IRIE Times! This is the new site for keeping up with what Claudia and Emrick are up to. New boat, new site. Sort of makes sense we hope.

Let's get just a couple of housekeeping notes out of the way at the start. First, we won't normally bother you with e-mails announcing a new post to this blog. If you care to follow along, we suggest you bookmark this page, and then, whenever you feel like it, you can see if anything new has been added. And, since I've forgotten what the second item was,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

These two shots show you what a 40 foot sailboat looks like on a truck, after travelling 3030 miles through rain, snow, wind, sleet, and general ugliness. Most everything but fair weather as I hear it. From Friday to the following Sunday, our new baby was in the care of one Bob Manning, trucker extraordinaire. Shown here at age 76, waiting to unload what might be his last cross country and back haul. Got to love this guy!

When we left "Zebrina" in Annapolis, MD three weeks earlier, C and I had removed the sails, solar panels, dodger, bimini, etc. etc.. Anything that could move in the wind or stand taller than thirteen feet from the bottom of the keel had to either come off or be tied down. We only had a couple of days, in soupy weather at that, to do what we could. Then it was up to Andy Hoyt, a boatman we met and hired to see the boat safely from her berth on the Chesapeake to Bob's truck. He was charged with managing the removal and packing of the mast with it's fittings, wires, and electrical. The radar, wind generator, anchor, and all the electronics at the helm (they stood too tall) and moving the boat from her slip to the yard where she would be hauled out and set on the truck.

This was a big job, some of which we are still discovering as we attempt to put things all back together. And Andy, it turns out, is another prince of a guy. I can't tell you how fortunate we are to have found and hired these two men! This move was a way way bigger production than C and I could have imagined, and it came off without a single problem.

So now we're at Nelson's Boatyard in Alameda, CA in the Bay area. One of the most important tasks to complete before she could splash again, involved ritual and ceremony. The denaming and renaming of a boat is not something to be taken lightly. Fortunately, I had Chuck Reckner along to make sure it was done with all the pomp and devotion required. As captain, it was my heavy responsibility to invoke the favor of Neptune and Poseiden to maintain their approval and support of this vessel. As you can see, it was a ceremony to be remembered. Then came the annointing. Lacking a fine bottle of wine, we substituted the champagne of bottled beers, careful not to drink or miss pouring on the bow a single drop. We, of course, had some for ourselves afterward, once we were convinced that the Gods of the Sea would be of a satisfied disposition.

The renaming the following day was a much more laid back affair as befits the new name. The word Irie is one we learned a while back in Jamaica. It means "Every ting is good Mon" "No problems"

Taking advantage of the mast being out of the boat and on the ground, the last morning before Chuck needed to be home, we removed mast steps and cleaned and waxed 60 feet of spar. Whew! time to go home.

The next day, when Claudia and I returned, we were rather upset to find that IRIE was still in the yard. She was supposed to have been put in the water yesterday! Oh well. Life in a boatyard is a lot like life in Mexico. You learn to roll with the punches so to speak. We did get the boat in the water that afternoon, and our rigger was able to get the mast set and tuned before dark that day too.

The next morning, our friend, boat broker George Sikich came aboard to help us navigate to our new Marina. The diesel fired immediately on command, what a joy, and we were on our way to what will be home for the Summer.

Here's IRIE in her new slip at Ballena Isle Marina in Alameda. As we're only a long six hours from here, we'll be able to spend time aboard putting things back together and getting to know our new vessel before heading off on a new adventure.